Two Souls
by TieDyeJackson
Summary: AU - What happens if J-Day Is Averted ? - Rated M For Language and Slightly Smutty Content - R & R Please
1. Two Souls Full Of Grief

John Connor was drunk , no doubt about it. He was quite a few sheets into the wind and he decided he had had enough for one night . He pushed himself off his chair, threw his leather jacket around his shoulders, and tucked back in his Motorhead shirt back into his pants behind the two holstered 1911's he had at his back . He chuckled to himself and thought 'old habits die hard, I guess'. He made it back to the house with minimal assistance from the street lamps and fumbled his way into the door. He started making his way through the darkness to the stairs when the flick of the light took him by surprise . In the blink of an eye he had drawn his gun and flipped the safety off in one fluid motion.

" Christ , Cam. What the fuck were you thinking ?! I could have emptied a clip into your head" John ranted as he slipped the gun back in it's holster.

"You had left without advising me of your location , John. I have been waiting." Cameron stated matter of factly as always

" I was out" He sighed as he lit the cigarette he had held in his mouth since West Sunset Blvd.

"The ill effects of tabaco are numerous, John it can lead to... "

"Cameron, am I sick in the future"

"No"

"Then ... Fuck ... Off"

"Every night John, you come home in this inebriated state, you barely nourish yourself, and smoke an unhealthy amount of tobacco. You need to keep healthy for ... " She stopped herself and her hands tightened.

"For what Cameron ? J-Day ? The thing that was supposed to happen two fucking years ago ?!" Cameron stood their a grimace forming on her lips as John continued his verbal assault "Mom made sure that didn't happen , didn't she? All it took was a few well placed nano-thermite bombs and her own goddamned life ! "

* * *

She should stoically as he screamed in her face. He had done this quite repeatedly and the words were always the same so she let him go without pause. It was his coping mechanism. Survivors guilt . Everyone else had died besides him. They had burred Derek Reese and Sarah Connor. The cost had been high but the war was now won. Judgment day , which they once thought inevitable, was averted. That was where the quandary lay with John , He was a General for a fight that was not going to be fought, training his entire life for a purpose that was now gone. And as such , her objectives had now been achieved , no more mission or directives.

She was so lost in her own recollections that she hadn't noticed that John was now silent. Watching her with a shocked look across his face. She finally snapped back into the present and was shocked to find she was malfunctioning somehow , her facial muscles felt contorted and wet. She ran a diagnostic but nothing was coming up as irregular but she knew something wasn't right. Her systems were overcome and nothing was computing as the moisture level and facial contortion increased.

* * *

He could scarcely breathe as he looked at her and tried to sort out in his head what was happening . There was no way this could be happening. She seemed to finally notice the odd look on his face as she tilted her head while closely studying his expression. Then he saw the realization spread across her face that something wasn't right and then a look of confusion and overwhelming.

He did not say a word. He couldn't even understand it himself but that didn't matter . He wrapped himself around her shoulders and she went completely rigid to his touch . He pulled her into his arms and dropped his own head into her neck and started to cry. After a few moments he felt her head do the same and then her arms enveloped him and he almost felt like she was about to crush him with how hard she was now holding on . Then the world went away as two lifetimes full of pain flowed out and the silent home was filled with the sounds of unchained grief

* * *

They cried for what seemed like an eternity and both their heads seemed to rise in unison. He felt the coolness of her cheek even through his beard as their cheeks made contact , He was driven by a need to press his lips against the coolness and did it repeatedly. His thumb started stroking the other side of her face as he continued his kisses to the top of her head then traveled down to her forehead and eyes and nose.

He stopped himself and pulled back . She looked at him with glassed over and confused eyes. Her looks seem to pierce his very heart and soul as she never let her gaze stray from his as she herself slowly closed the gap he had just created and crushed her lips to his. Lingering there for a few moments and then opening the gap again.

She did not know what was coming over her as she went in for another kiss and started sliding off his jacket. All that she knew was that her only thoughts were a want for him . To feel his bare flesh pressed against his own. She embraced him with increasing fervor between each item of clothes she removed and allowed him the same up to the point where it had almost become animalistic in nature by the time she was nude.

He grabbed her hand gently after they were both undressed and led her to the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and resumed his lips ministration, traveling his way from her lips, down her chin and neck , across the swell of her breasts and down her flawless stomach.

* * *

She gasped as his tongue found her. Her processors a blur of unintelligible information as her body responded. Her body quacked with every luxk until she could not stand it anymore and pulled him back up to her one handed by the shoulder . She bits his lip and let out a throaty growl as his hands danced around her body . Her legs clamping around his hips as he entered her . Each thrust drove her more and more into a silent excasty as her jaw jerked up and down in a permanent 'O'. . Her teeth bit down on his shoulder as the tempo started increasing as her hips rose up to meet his. For the first time in her existence she could not have told anyone how long it lasted . She knew everything down to the second but this felt like a limitless eternity until they both peaked and collapsed into each other.

John finally came back to his senses as he rolled back onto the other side of the bed . He groggily looked over at Cameron who lay there in all her glory with a slight smile while looking at him.

" You should rest now , you have had a fair amount of exertion" she stated

"What, not even a cuddle first?" he laughed as his eyes started to slowly droop.

The last thing he remembered was her head on his outstretched arm and her own across his stomach as the sleep overtook him.


	2. Two Souls Full Of Hope

John was like a man possessed. He had finally found peace and that had lit a fire under him. He had wasted almost three years of his life in mourning for lost friends and family . Not all of his allies had died in what was referred to in the public as the "Silicone Valley Meltdown".

He cringed at the memory, two million dead so that seven billion would live. If he would have known what his mother was up to he would have stopped her , she knew that so she didn't tell him. She had shouldered that guilt on her own and carried it to her death knowing that he could never live with himself doing what needed to be done.

He sighed and wiped a tear away as he thought of the days afterward . Being forced to go to the memorial by a stoic Cam. She thought it would bring him peace to know it was all over but all it did was make him feel worse. He couldn't even look at James Ellison. Savannah Weaver clung to his chest overwhelmed by the grief of this tragedy and their own individual losses . The guilt is what drove him to disappear into the bottle. Guilt that the war was won but at such a high cost.

Three years wallowing in the empty void that had become his soul, awash in liquor, drugs, and self-loathing. It took a machine to bring him back from the brink of the abyss.

A machine who became a person; A person who became a woman; A woman who became a light, his light. He had been oblivious to it all and didn't see any of the transitions until her hand reached down to pull him up from his fall. They had fallen asleep that night with their hands intertwined and he promised himself he would never let her go after that.

He had lost his destiny but gained so much more . He had found love and hope for the first time in his entire life. He found a future that wasn't etched in stone. He found a future that was open to any possibility at all and all those unknowns thrilled him more than almost anything. He embraced the chaos . He decided then and there that for the rest of his days his middle name would be "Footloose and Fancy-Free".

But first he needed to make amends. He had already done so with Cam. After that night, she had made him clean up and detox . She had allowed it to go on long enough. No better drug councilor than a robot who did not need to eat, sleep, drink, and was just now discovering she had some emotions . On the good days, they would talk and he would help her understand what she was going through. On the bad days, he would scream and cry and call her everything under the sun. She just smiled and looked at him . Whether she was restraining him to keep him from hurting himself , blocking his ever present escape plans or bathing and cleaning him when he was too weak to even breathe, every time he looked at her she was looking back and smiling. He didn't know if it was a week or a month passing by, he lost all concept of time and started to feel a lot better. He could actually keep stuff down eventually but she didn't want to take chances. He had his own wits about him finally and then he really started paying attention to her and her progress . She was never one for extremes, it was subtle changes in her face. A different position of the lips and a look in her eye that could tell him if she was happy , mad or sad and a million other regular emotions in between. She was always so serene and he fell in love with her deeper than he could have ever thought possible.

It was on one of the last nights that it had happened. He had spent the previous two nights apologizing up and down for all the shit he had put her through and how badly he had treated her all these years they had known each other. Three days of grovelling until she finally raised her hand to stop his talking.

"John Connor , your incessant talking on the same subject is both monotonous and unnecessary."

"I just feel so bad, Cam and I want you to know how sorry I am"

"Though I know you feel guilt over what has previously transpired, John Connor, you need not."

" Why ?"

"According to our previous conversations that, though your mother killed approximately 2 million people, you still hold her in high regard as she was your mother and you care for her unconditionally and the same could be said about me in regards to you"

His heart almost burst from his chest as he kissed her lips and put their foreheads together. He looked deeply into her eyes and grinned " I love you too, Cam"


	3. Two Souls Full Of Drive

**A/N – sorry for the delay but life kinda happens sometimes and life has happened a lot for me in these last few weeks lol. So I thought I would pad my guilt with a longer chapter . I hope you enjoy it even if it is a bit hokey :D As always, reviews are my lifeblood !**

* * *

"It Wasn't Raining When Noah Was Building The Ark"

This was the thought that kept on coursing through John's mind as his hand burned and his stomach emptied as he crouched on the side of the highway in the burning sun.

He had made the mistake of telling her that he had felt no direction . A few months had passed since his detox and one morning over his breakfast he had just let it slip . Hell, there was only so much daytime tv a man could stand , he didn't have any education and was a little bit shy about working with the public since most of his life was shadowed by the thought of them all dying in a shadowy metal apocalypse that was now not coming to pass. He felt like he was spinning his wheels. He remembers telling her this with regret as the last of the bile leaves his throat and he stands to catch the water bottle she is throwing at him from inside the jeep.

He sure as shit wasn't spinning his wheels after that . The morning after his life is pointless speech she had awoken him with the Noah quote at 5 am . The following days were an eternity of militaristic routine. Up at 5 am to a breakfast of carbs , followed by what he affectionately referred to as the Death March To Hell. He runs until he drops and/or she is satisfied . He curses that he has the only girlfriend that can monitor his vital statistic with a glance. Then he gets to eat a brunch so full of protein he now considers himself part steak. Every day he feels like killing her and melting her down until he sees her smiling across the table.

He just laughs and shakes his head. Boys fall in love with their mothers . Even when they are psychotics concentrated on preparing him for war by any means necessary.

Then they make their way to an abandoned army base in the desert that Zeira Corp bought for them for J-Day prep. A ready made training facility far away from prying eyes where John now trained. Target practice with his 1911's followed by any other arms that Cam had acquired. Followed by the obstacle course where he would try to avoid her paintball shots. He could barely feel the welts anymore except when she hit him in the face.

The last 2 hours were hand to hand combat. He told her not to hold back , she still did and he still had a few cracked ribs that first day.

He lived for 3 pm every day. She would complain that he needed more training every day but conceded that he did need at least a little bit of rest and some down time everyday . She would use the computer for her endless quest for knowledge and need for lol cats. He filled those few hours with different projects whether it was fixing the jeep , fiddling with rebuilding a bile from the frame up or just repairs around the house. They always went out for dinner at 6 sharp and had eaten at pretty much every restaurant within a fifty block radius. Today she had wanted Japanese so they conversed over sushi and tempura. A movie usually followed that he barely watched because he was too busy looking at her.

He was in awe of her, all of her. Whether it was the way she kicked his ass in the mornings barking out orders with military prescision or just leaning up against the door frame and looking at her delight when she found something funny on the internet that she just had to pull him away at least three times a day to show. She would look at him with sad eyes sometimes and ask him if he ever thought of other women, human women . Her chest would heave as she listed off the reasons why she thought he would leave her and he would just chuckle and wrap his arm around her. He would kiss the top of her head and tell her there was no other woman who could ever take her place . He would lift up her chin and tell her they were made for each other and she would smile and give him a gentle shove for such a lame joke.

She made sure they were always in bed by 8 pm, never mind the fact they would normally get to sleep at eleven.

* * *

She finally relented after eight months of kicking his ass to a vacation. It was the day that he finally finished putting his chopper together.

She had finally convinced him to trim both the beard and his hair. He had only wanted a few inches off each but she conveniently heard what she had wanted to hear and his hair was now only a few inches long and his beard was cut close to his face. He had been furious and worked through the night and ignored the morning routine until it was complete.

"I'm sorry John" he heard over the corner of his shoulder. He turned to see her holding two cups of coffee with a sad smile on her face. He just shook his head and returned her smile. " Better aerodynamics for riding the bike I guess" he sighed . God that woman could be forgiven of everything. He was helpless to those doe eyes.

"she broke out in a huge smile before she jumped at him and looped her arms around his neck. "You know how much I love you, John." she stated as she kissed his neck. "Forever and ever, Cam" He said as he nuzzled into hers.

They made love on the drop cloth in the closed garage. Soon they were both covered in dirt, grime and motor oil and couldn't have been more happy. He picked her up and kissed her after they were done and carried her into the shower, they made love again until the hot water had turned cold and then freezing before they finally pulled apart to dry off and get warm.

* * *

She had left him lying in bed and after a few minutes bounced back into the room with an armful of pamphlets. " How about a vacation?" she queried as he looked at her as if she had grown a second head . She nudged him with an elbow "I am serious, you are in peak physical conditioning and you could still run out on the road and you seem to be going stir crazy. I have reseached the best in vacations and have poured over hours of vacation footage online and it seems for a good way to relax and become closer as a family". His face softened from one of confusion to one of pure love, she had just called them a family and his heart filled with more love and pride then he could even vocalize. "We'll leave tomorrow" he said as he pulled her back down to their bed.

* * *

He didn't even need an alarm clock anymore. He awoke at 5 am sharp to the smell of bacon and eggs. He walked out to Cameron buzzing around the room like a bumblebee on crack. The table was heaped with food but everything else in the room was the cleanest it had ever been. He tried getting her attention a few times but she was too busy . So he sat down to eat the breakfast . She joined him a few minutes later and hungrily started eating. In between bites she told him that she had not stayed in bed that night after he had fallen asleep . She had taken the jeep to an all night big box store and they were now stocked and packed with camping equipment and fishing supplies. The bike had been put on a trailer and attached to the jeep, she would finish the dishes after they were done breakfast while he could shut off the water and the breaker to the house. If all went to plan they could leave the house and be on the road in 22.6 minutes. He laughed and did as she said but said they had to make a stop before they explored the wild blue yonder.

* * *

He hadn't set foot in front of this place in almost five years . It still looked just as huge and imposing as ever. He took a breath and nodded at Cameron before stepping through the front doors of The Zeira Corporation. The receptionist looked a bit annoyed when he asked to see James Ellison. She went on about how you needed an appointment and that their CEO was very busy. He sighed and told her to call up and say "John Connor wants to speak with you" , she relayed the message to his personal secretary and then moved like she had a firecracker in her back pocket to show them to his personal elevator. He politely accepted the glass of mineral water that his assistant offered to them while waiting for him . Cameron did the same and they were left in the enormous office in silence for about ten minutes before James came through the door and extended his hand to John and to Cameron as if no time had passed between them.

" So what can I do for you, John" James said as he sat on the corner of his desk

"I just wanted to come here to apologize for not speaking with you sooner" John looked at the floor and Cameron heard the hurt in his voice and made her way behind John to put her hand on his shoulder.

James Ellison was taken back for a split second before deciding it was none of his business and continuing "No apologies are needed , you lost your mother and your entire sense of being in one violent night. A lesser man would have died but you are a Connor and from what I've seen you are cut from a pretty cut cloth. Your family has single handedly averted an Armageddon more sinister than one I could have imagined and sacrificed all in the name of mankind" He moved towards John slowly and John in turn stood " I am more than proud to call you a friend. The whole world owes a debt to you than anyone could ever repay" He wrapped his arms around John without hesitation "Praise be to God for a man like you, John Connor".

John's throat went dry as James hugged him he put his own arms around the man and gave a single squeeze and then they went back to standing. James looked him straight in the eye and John nodded and then they went back to their respective seats with a silent bond and respect.

"How is Savannah ?" Cameron chimed in to cut the silence.

James chuckled " A very large pain in the ass that I wouldn't give up for the world. She's in school right now but I will be sure to pass on your love"

"and running Zeira?" John asked

" I was more surprised than anyone that Catherine left it to me in a will she had made before the incident" He say the pain flash on John's face " but I have put it to good use. Converting from a weapons firm to a tech company has made this company richer than it has ever been. We now have a worldwide division specifically for world wide charity. Right now hundreds of schools, hospitals and homes built in third world countries. Shelters being upgraded here at home and a back to work program that gives the homeless a place to stay and a free education. God has blessed me with a wonderful bounty and I am paying it forward every day of my life"

James reached inside his desk to pull out a large manilla envelope. " Which brings me to the two of you" He smiles as he slides the envelope across the table.

John cautiously opened the envelope with Cameron peering over his shoulder to find birth certificates, drivers licenses , passports, social security numbers and medical coverage cards in the names of John Connor and Cameron Young. He looked up at James with a confused look in his eye . "It took quite a bit of time , money and elbow grease but as far as the world is concerned you are both model citizens". Johns eyes started to tear up as he looked at his friend who was beaming as he clapped a strong hand onto his shoulder " My first gift to you is you. No more running or hiding who you are . A clean slate to do with as you please and a name you can say not only without fear of reprisal but with a pride deep down in your chest" He squeezed on John's shoulder and then slipped another two cards into his hand " My second gift are these company cards. Buy a car , buy a house , hell if you want buy Texas but just promise me one thing" … He shakes John to make sure he looks him directly in the eye … " You and your family sacrificed your sanity, your lives and your freedom to save the world. Now the battles done and the world is won, son. Now grab onto it and for all its worth enjoy it to the fullest"


	4. Two Souls Full Of Friendship

John couldn't help but bang his head against the dash. He had thought it would be a nice gift. He had his bike as his pride and joy so he thought it only fair that Cameron be able to pick out their next vehicle. The old jeep had been run into the ground from years of Connor abuse, he knew they would be traveling for quite a while and now with the good fortune bestowed upon them by Ellison, they had no reason not to. After all, Cameron was a machine so all she would do is pick out the most practical vehicle . What he did not take into account, however, was her inherent girlishness, which is the reason he was now sitting shotgun going down Route 99 in a purple fucking hummer with a personalized license plate that said "TERMIN8". She just turned to him and saw his obvious discomfort. "What?" she grinned, "It goes with the jacket perfectly" and he just shook his head.

She even had being drunk down to a science. She explained it before they had stopped. She had spent a while studying the human condition and wanted to experience it all. She could experience all the emotions freely now just like any other human but there were those x-factors of the human existence . One of those was being drunk. She had seen the bad side of it with John which is why now he was only allowed to drink beer. She had made the observance that though his intelligence and responsiveness decreased it made him relax and quite pleasant to be around. She had devised away that through consumption of the beer that her programming could mimic the state of drunkenness. John could barely breathe he was laughing so hard by the end of her explanation. An algorithm for getting shit faced. Bionic fucking Woman eat your heart out.

They had found this place in the middle of nowhere , a hotel and bar and a few tumbleweeds. They went in to rent a room and were referred to the bar by a sign . There that had found him.

Angus Macmillan was a man who liked to talk. He drank like a fish, smoked like a chimney and swore like a sailor. He looked and sounded like Billy Connolly with a ZZ Top beard after a month of drinking . He was the happiest son of a bitch on earth with every word he spoke unless he was reflecting on his dearly departed wife Jinty taken ten years ago this coming October. He hated the bar and he hated the hotel and he hated that he had nowhere to go. They had spent the entire afternoon and evening alone in the bar eating and drinking and laughing. Cameron had learned a lot about being a human but studying Angus she knew she had a lot more to learn.

Their peaceful little party of three was interrupted around 10 pm by a gang of loudmouth bikers, there were about ten of them and Angus was busy with pitcher after pitcher or beer and about 12 different bottles of booze. He was getting exhausted . He hadn't done this much running in a dog's age but he was happy the till was getting filled. His new friends sat at the bar and didn't seem disturbed by the rowdiness.

John took a long pull at his beer. He looked over at Cam as she smile wistfully and teetered a little bit back and forth. They had been drinking for the past eight hours and they both had a good buzz going on. He was kind of getting a bit tired but that was due to the military routine Cam had had him on . He liked drunk, laid back Cam a hell of a lot more than that Cam. He was in a state of bliss and nothing was bothering him. That was until Captain Jerk Off decided to poke fun at him. He was walking back to the table after taking a piss when he had casually looked at them and stopped , he then came back. " You the little bitch who has the purple hummer attached to the awesome bike" John could smell the tequila radiating off this guy so he chose to ignore him. The guy seemed to pick up off this and snorted . He had about three hundred pounds and about 6 or seven inches on John. " I said are you the bitch with the stupid car eh BITCH? " The bar went silent as the bikers and Angus both looked in the direction of the yell. " That's right bitch, I am gonna fuck your woman and take your bike , you yellow bastard !"

John had heard enough as he jumped to his feet and looked Jerk Off eye to eye. His anger melted away and he gave him a grin " I've been drinking for a few hours so I am in dire need of a bathroom break but I'll tell you what, I'll let my "woman" kick your ass instead , how does that sound, Jerk Off ? " The tension was interrupted by the bikers bursting out laughing . He bent down and kissed a now smiling cam on the forehead and whispered in her ear " Just don't kill him". He then made his way into the bathroom and had the most relaxing leak of his life.

When he immersed a few minutes later , the place was in utter chaos . Here was this seeming impish little teenage girl handing a group of hells angels wannabes their own asses. He simply laughed and shook his head walking to the bar. Angus was standing behind the bar just watching the whole thing unravel. He didn't even notice when John reached into his front pocket and grabbed a cigarette out of his pack. Cam never let him smoke anymore but … hey he was letting her indulge in her vices , so why couldn't he? He found it quite comical to watch Angus' eyes follow her as she went from one man to the next . Handling them with a brute force not befitting a waif but with the ease of a ballerina doing a pirouette.

"Well, John , shouldn't we … at least … I mean … help her out?"

"Does she look like she needs assistance, Angus?"

"Not that I can see lad"

" Exactly , now if you wouldn't mind , another bottle of your best Budweiser good sir"

He barely finished the last drop when she was at his shoulder again. A busted lip paired with gash in her cheek paired with a fire in her eye he knew all to well. He could barely say goodnight to Angus before she had lifted him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him towards the general vicinity of their motel room . She bit at the inside of his lip repeatedly as she smothered his mouth with hers. She pushed and he fell backwards into the room and into the lazy-boy chair sitting by the window. Before he knew what was happening she had mounted and unzipped his fly. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as she continually and violently thrusting herself up and down as she pulled on his hair and continued her oral onslaught. The chair stability waning with the increase of her ministrations and the growl coming from her throat . She gasped his name repeatedly in such away that it reached into his very core. Feeling her muscles contract around him in climax was more than he could handle and he reached his own.

Cameron left the room shortly after Jon descended into sleep. She found Angus sitting on the porch of the bar lost in thought. She just helped herself to the coffee pot and one of the old mugs beside it. She sat down beside him bringing her knees to her chest and looked out with him into the vast reaches of the desert. Neither said anything for a very long time , enjoying the silence. "He loves ya, ya know that don't ya lass?" Angus said breaking through their quiet time but not moving his eyes . She nodded knowing he could see her out of his peripheral vision. "the only time I have ever saw that look in a man's eye was more than forty years ago. It was the look that I had in my own eye the day I knew I wanted to spend my life with my Jinty" He breathed a deep sigh and blew at his coffee again " Don't ever take it for granted. There's nothing quite like being able to love the person you were made to be with.". At that comment Cam laughed and he finally turned to look at her. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and she held her sides as she looked at him and said " I am a cyborg from the future" . He contemplated silently and lit another cigarette . " We all have our crosses to bear, lass." was his reply and Cameron felt a warmth in his words. They talked straight through till dawn.

John was woken up by Cameron slapping at his foot . " I already went out , replenished road supplies and gassed up. It's time to go" . He knew her with time tables so he jumped quickly in the shower, dressed and met her at the hummer. As he walked to the passenger side door he couldn't help but notice Angus was sitting in the back.

"What's with Angus?" John inquired.

" Oh, He's coming with us , he needs a change of pace"

" What the hell, cam when did this happen?"

"We talked last night, I know you trust my judgment so I thought it was OK"

"Given are circumstances , cam . Do you really thing it is viable to expose an outsider ? "

With that Angus popped his head out the side window;

" Jesus H Christmas , Lad ! She's A Tin Can, You're General Custer and I am Mary Queen of Bloody Scots. So can we please just get this fucking show on the goddam road?"


End file.
